A clothes swap held in Melksham has been hailed as a ‘huge success,’ with over 40 attendees swapping 402 pieces of clothing and accessories.
The event, held on 10th May at coffee and pizza venue Doubles, located at Avonside, marked the launch of the Swap Society – a project run by two local women, Meagan and Gracie, who are striving to make pre-loved fashion stylish
“We interviewed many attendees and many were ‘first-time swappers’,” said Meagan. “This was very exciting for us, as our event was an introduction to them and the overall feedback was that they could not wait for the next one.”
Meagan and Gracie launched the Swap Society after meeting at the Dorothy House charity shop in Westbury, where Gracie works. Their aim is to hold a series of clothing swaps in independent spaces including, coffee shops, farm shops, industrial warehouses and festivals.
“The attendees to our first clothes swap came from across Wiltshire and beyond, we had visitors from Bath, Bristol, Swindon, Frome, Oxford, Cirencester and someone had even travelled from central London,” said Meagan.
“Doubles did ‘double’ the amount of coffee in an hour than their usual trade would have been and it was an absolute community effort to pull this event off. We had a lovely lady named Kim, who we met a few weeks back at the Ashton Common boot sale, and she lent us the clothing rails, and she volunteered on the day. We also had three other volunteers and Gracie’s partner, James, was on the door, collecting the £5 event entry, counting clothing and handing over the tokens.
“Our tokens were sustainably made with wood, which means we can reuse them, and it gave us a point of differentiation. The clothing, which was left over after the event, we sorted and donated multiple bags to Dorothy House Westbury and the rest we have kept in storage until the next event.”
The date of the next clothes swap will be shared next month.
